Power System Simulation for Engineers (PSS/E version 30)

Here are instructions for accessing and using the PSS/E-30 software. On-campus students should
access this software at any of the computers in the lab of Coover rooms 1125 or 1212.
You should coordinate with your group members to limit the number of simultaneous program
uses at any given time (the limit by license is 20). Also, make sure that you quit the program
when you are no longer using it. Otherwise it uses up one of the 20 users and someone else may
not be able to get to it.
1. Log on to your computers. You can find this software (use any one):
a.
b.
c.

In the start menu. Go to startProgramsPSSE 30.1PSSE (Power Flow)

(This is an icon with a white background)
In the start menu. Go to startProgramsPSSE 30.1PSSE 30 Command
Prompt. (This will open a Command Prompt. Type PSSE 30 there.)
Go to C:\Program Files\PTI\PSSE30\PSSBIN and Click on the PSSE (Power
Flow) icon. (An icon with a white background)

2. To view already existing cases - Go to FileOpen. You will get a list of already existing
cases. Select any case that you would wish to view. These files have the extension
.sav. (There are lots of other files with different extensions. Do not open those. You
might want to use those at a later stage)
3. To create a new file, Click FileNew. A small dialog box with two option buttons will
be opened. Select the option Case and click OK.
4. This will open a Build New Case dialog box. Select the base MVA as 100 from the
Base MVA drop down list box. Then there will be two blank spaces corresponding to
Heading line 1 and heading line 2. You may leave these text boxes blank, and Click OK.
5. This will get you to the spreadsheet interface, where you are going to build your new
case.
6. Now you can start modeling a power system. To build a case you need the following
information:
a.

Bus Data:
1) Base KV, G-Shunt (MW), B-Shunt (MVAR). Note that the last two
parameters of a bus are not required. But you must have the data about bus
Base KV for every bus.
2) You must also know the type of the buses. i.e., whether it is a swing bus (one of
the buses having a generator, for which you designate voltage magnitude and
angle), or a PV bus (buses having a generator but not designated as the swing

b.

bus, for which you designate real power and voltage magnitude), or a PQ bus
(generally a load bus, but sometimes not: it is a bus for which you designate
both real and reactive power; such a bus may or may not have load and for
such a bus the real and reactive power is designated as 0,0).
Branch Data (Transmission lines):
1) From bus and To bus numbers.
2) R, X, and Line charging values in per unit.

c.

Load Data :
1) The Bus number to which it is connected.
2) P (in MW) and Q (MVAR) of the load.

d.

Generator Data :
1) The Bus number to which it is connected.
2) Generator Real Power Rating (in MW). Maximum and minimum limits for
reactive power (in MVAr)

e.

Transformer Data:
From bus and To bus numbers

7. Once you are done with entering all the data for the power system modeling, you can
save this case file. Remember to save the file very often, so that you do not loose the
data you have entered.
8. To save, Click FileSave from the File menu. This will open a Save / Show network
data dialog box. This dialog box will have a lot of Tabs on the top. You may select the
Case Data tab. Under this tab there is a text box meant to enter your files destination.
You may click on the box that is on the right-hand side of this text box, with 3 dots on it
to select your destination. You may preferably store your file in the EXAMPLE
folder. Before storing there, give a suitable filename to your case, e.g., psseflow etc.
After entering a suitable filename, you should click OPEN. This will show the
destination of your new file in the Destination text box of the Save / Show network
data dialog box. Now click on OK.

Building a case in PSS/E:

This is illustrated with an example. Consider the power system diagram shown below.

This power system has 6 Buses, 2 generating units connected, 2 transformers, 2 loads, and 5
transmission lines. Our objective is to model this power system using PSS/E, and thereby we can
conduct many studies on this network using the simulation facilities of PSS/E.
When you create a new case using the FileNew command, you will get a spreadsheet interface.
You will find a lot of Tabs at the bottom of this spread sheet view, which corresponds to Area,
Buses, Branches, FACTS, etc. Among those the tabs that we use are: (follow the same
order while creating the case):
1. Buses
2. Branches
3. Loads
4. Machines
5. Plants
6. 2- Winding Transformer
7. Areas
8. Zones
9. Owners
The last three are optional. For the sake of completion we can fill those three spreadsheets too.

1. Bus Data:
The spread sheet corresponding to Buses will have many columns in which you are required to
enter the data corresponding to every bus in the system. You need not enter all the data, but only
the data that are mandatory. Others will have some default values that the software assumes while

solving the Power Flow case.

a. Give every bus a Bus Number. Follow the numbering that is given in the diagram.
b. Give the Bus Names as you wish. You must type the names within single quotes. Ex.
BUS1 etc.
c. Enter the Bus KV in the 3rd column. The nominal KV for buses 1 and 2 are 13.8 KV,
and for the remaining 4 buses it is 69 KV.
d. Once you enter the KV values, you can enter the Area number to which the bus
belongs. This is of very great significance when it comes to a very large system. Here
you can model everything in a single area. So you can fill 1 under the Area Number
column for every bus. You need not fill in the next column corresponding to the Area
Name.
e. You can also model everything in a single Zone number. You may assign it as 1 for
every bus. (Dividing the whole network into different areas or zones is at the discretion
of the individual modeling the system.) You need not fill the Zone Name column.
f. You can also model everything in a single Owner Number. You may just fill 1 here.
You need not fill in the name under Owner Name column.
g. Once you have entered the above data, you may leave the rest of the columns free. They
will take their default values.

For example: Consider the Bus # 1

Bus# Bus Name Base KV Area# Area Name Zone# Zone Name Owner# Owner Name
1
Bus1 13.8 1
1
1
After filling these you must not press Enter to move to the next row, but you should just click
on the bottom row to enter the next bus data. Now fill in the same way for the rest of the buses
(from 2 to 6). So in this way you will fill in these data for every bus in successive rows. If you
want to make any changes to the already entered values, make the change by clicking on the
respective cell. After making the change, click on some other row to record the change., i.e.,
while changing the data, you will see a pencil mark at the left-hand corner of the row. Once
you have finished changing, click on any other row so that the pencil mark vanishes,
signifying that your change has been recorded or activated.
Once you are done with entering all the bus data, now you can move to the spreadsheet
corresponding to the Branches, by selecting the Branches tab at the bottom of the
spreadsheet view.

2. Branch Data:
This spreadsheet corresponds to the transmission lines data.
a. Now fill in the From Bus number in the first column, and the To Bus number in the
3rd column.
b. Leave the Columns corresponding to From and To Bus names (Col 2 and Col 4) free.

PSS/E will read it from the Buses spreadsheet automatically.

c. Give Id to every branch. This can be a mere number or can also be an alphanumeric
value, having length of 2 characters.
d. Then fill in the successive columns with the R, X, and Charging data. All in per unit.
e. The status of all the braches shall be In to start with. (Later we will want to disable
one of these lines, i.e., we will want to simulate the outage or removal of a line.)
f. You need not fill in any other columns.
Follow this procedure for every branch. Enter all these data for the first branch, and then go to the
next row to enter data for the second. Do this for every branch in successive rows. The data for all
branches are R=1 ohm, X=10 ohm, and B=0.002 mho. You must find the per unit values for R,
X, and the line charging admittance, B/2.

For example: (Per-unit values in this example are sample data and are not related to our system)
From Bus# From Bus To Bus# To Bus Id Line R Line X Charging (pu) Status
Name
Name
(pu) (pu)
4
5
1 0.01 0.354 0.0895 Tick
Hence, fill in all the data for every transmission branch like this. After filling data in this
spreadsheet, now we will go to Load spreadsheet, by clicking on the Load Tab.

3. Load Data:
a. Enter the Bus Number to which the load is connected. You need not enter anything for
the Bus Name column.
b. Give this load an Id in the 3rd column.
c. Follow the same instructions for filling out the Area, Zone, and the Owner numbers as
you had done for the Buses spreadsheet.
d. Check the status. (Not checking means there is no load present. This can be done later for
further studies).
e. Enter the values for the Pload (MW) and Qload (MVAr) in the next two columns.
The loads connected to the buses 5 and 6 are of the same levels, i.e., 40MVA@ 0.85 pf.
f. You need not fill the rest of the columns. Now click on the row below, and enter data for
the next load. Do this for all the loads present. Do not forget to click on the row below
after you finish entering data for any Load (so that it will get recorded).

Example: (Load values in this example are not our system loads values. They are sample data)
Bus#

Bus name Id Area# Area Name Zone#.. Owner#.. Status Pload(MW) Qload(MVAR)

1 1

Tick

23

32

Once we are done entering all the load data, now we can enter the Generator data in Plants
spreadsheet by clicking on the Plants tab.

4. Generator Data:
In the Plants spreadsheet, all you need to do is to make a list of all existing generators. Here is
how to do this:
a. Fill in the Bus Number to which the generator has been connected. You need not fill
data in any of the other columns.
b. Now click on the next row to fill in the data (Bus Number) for the next generator. Do this
for all the generators. In this case, we have only 2 generators.
Once you have created a list of generators in the Plants Spreadsheet, Now you may go to
Machines Spreadsheet, by clicking on Machines tab. Here again you are going to enter the
data corresponding to every generators.
a. Enter the Bus Number to which the generator has been connected. You need not fill in
the Bus Name column.
b. Give an Id for the generator in the 3rd column.
c. Check the status, if you desire the generator to be in action. (Check it at the beginning).
d. Then fill in the Pgen (MW) value, Qmax (MVAR) and Qmin (MVAR) values. You need
not fill the remaining columns. They will take their default values.
Generator Data:
Generator Pgen(MW)
1
80
50
2
40
50

Qmax(MVAR)
-30
-30

Qmin(MVAR)

Example:
Bus# Bus Name Id Status Pgen(MW) Pmax Pmin Qgen Qmax(MVAR) Qmin(MVAR)

1 Tick 80

50

-30

Once you are done entering data into the Machines spreadsheet, select the 2-winding tab to
enter the data for the transformers.

5. Transformer data:
a. This is very similar to that of entering the branch data. Enter the From Bus Number

b.
c.
d.
e.
f.
g.
h.

i.

and To Bus Number in column 1 and 3 respectively. You may again leave the columns
corresponding to their names free.
Give an Id for the Transformer in the next column.
Give a Name for the transformer within single quotes, e.g., Trans1 etc.
Check the status.
Then go to column Impedance I/O code, leaving a few columns free in the middle.
Select Zpu (system base) from the drop down list box.
Then select Ypu (system base) from the drop down list box in the next column.
Then fill in the data for X (pu) in the respective column. (This data is found by
calculating X/Zbase. This is done only if you are provided with the X values for the
transformer windings. If no values are given, then just leave it free)
Then enter 100 in the column named Rate A for both the transformers. The
remaining columns need not be filled. They will assume their default values.

This procedure should be followed for all the transformers in the system. In our example, we have
only two transformers: one is connected between buses 1 and 3 and another connected between
buses 2 and 4.
Example:
From Bus# .To Bus Id Name Status......Impedance Admittance
R X (pu)
I/O code I/O code
1
3 1 T1 Tick Zpu(sys base) Ypu(sys base) default default
Default means, Leave it free, as no data is given for R and X values of the transformers.

6. Bus Codes: Once you have entered the data for all the transformers in the system, now you
have to again open the Spreadsheet corresponding to the Buses.
In the Buses spreadsheet, go to the column named Code. In that, you have to enter the code
for every bus.
Bus Type
Code
Swing Bus (any one Gen Bus)
3 (Make it bus #1)
PV buses (generator buses)
2 (bus #2)
PQ buses (Load Buses)
1 (remaining buses)
After entering all codes, now open the Area spreadsheet by clicking the Area tab.

7. Area Data:
a. Enter the Area Number.
b. Enter the Area Swing bus Number. (Make sure the bus number that you are entering
has a generator connected to it). In our case, it is BUS # 1.
c. Give the area a Name in the last column. You need not enter any other data here.
Example:
Area # Area Swing Bus # Desired Interchange Tolerance (MW) Area Name
1
1
ABCD

After entering the area data, you may enter the data for Zone by clicking on the Zone Tab.

8. Zone Data:
Enter the Zone Number, and the Zone Name.
Example: Zone Spreadsheet looks like this
Zone Number Zone Name
1
Zone1
After this, now you may enter the owner details. Go to Owner spreadsheet by clicking the
Owner tab.

9. Owner Data:
Enter Owner Number and Name(within single quotes)
After all these are data entered, you are now ready to run the power flow.

To Run the Power Flow:

1. Click the menu Power FlowSolutionSolve (NSOL / FNSL.)
2. This will open a Loadflow Solutions dialog box. You may just click OK to solve the
case. Your result will be available in the bottom most window called the Progress window.
3. You can run the power flow using different algorithms. This can be done by changing the
option in the Loadflow Solutions dialog box before clicking OK. (The methods include
Newton Raphson, Gauss-Siedel, etc.)
4. You may also view the report by clicking Power FlowReports. Under that there are
different kinds of reports that one can generate, based on the area, zones, or the entire
network. You will see the report on the bottom most part of the PSS/E window, on the same
place where the progress tab is.
5. You can see the diagrammatic view of any Bus by just going to the Buses spreadsheet,
and then selecting the row corresponding to that bus whose diagram you want to view and
then right clicking on it will open a list of commands. You may click the command Create
Bus Display to see the diagrammatic representation of the power flow result corresponding
to that particular bus. You can also get the entire system diagram by following the steps
described in Appendix A.

Answer the following questions:

a. Compute the systems admittance matrix element Y33.
b. What is the generation at buses 1 and 2?
c. You should find that the numerical value of the bus 2 generation is a whole number, but
that of bus 1 is not. Why is this?
d. Does the sum of the real power generation equal to the sum of the real power load?
Explain.
e. What are the p.u voltage magnitudes of buses 1 and 2? Why?
f.

Are the bus 1 and 2 generators regulating? In other words, are their reactive generation
levels within the physical limitations of the generator?

g. Which two buses have the lowest pu voltage magnitude? Explain.

h. Does any bus have a higher pu voltage than the generator (source) buses? Explain.
i.

Which line has the largest angular separation across it? Why?

j.

Compute the line charging current at bus 5 associated with line 1-5. Also calculate the
reactive power supplied by this line charging capacitance at bus 5 (refer to the equivalent line representation).

k. Calculate the current I34 in the line 3-4. Using the voltage at bus 3 (from the power flow),
calculate P34 and Q34. Check your answers with the power flow solution of PSS/E. (you
can get these values from the PSS/E power flow reports)
l.

Calculate the approximate values of P34 and Q34 using the equations T1.20 & T1.22 for
P, and T1.21 & T1.23 for Q from the course notes. Verify this with simulation

m. Identify the maximum loading values at bus 5 and 6 by following the steps described
in Appendix B1 or Appendix B2. Plot bus 5 voltage magnitude against total bus 5 +
bus 6 real power load.
n. What is the problem which causes the loading limits observed in step m?
o. Which bus has the higher loading limit? Why?
Each students should turn in a report with
A Print out of the Power Flow Solution.
A Print-out of the Power Flow Report under the "normal" loading conditions.
Answers to all of the above questions.

Appendix A
How to create the entire system diagram in PSS/E:
After solving the case you have built, the entire system diagram can be obtained by the following
steps:
1. Click - FileNew. A small dialog box with two option buttons will be opened. Select the
option Diagram and click OK. This will get you to the diagram interface where you are
going to build your system diagram.
2. Click Auto Draw button (
) in the toolbar and there will be the cross cursor in the
interface. Now click on the blank area and this will open a Select Bus dialog box. You may
click the box named Select and this will open another Bus Selection dialog box. You
may choose any bus that you have already built in the left part of this dialog box and then
click OK. Now in the Select Bus dialog box the bus number which you just chose appears
in the text box. Click OK.
3. Now the diagram related to the chosen bus shows in the interface.
4. To adjust the position of the diagram, click Select button ( ) in the toolbar or press Esc
on the keyboard and then you can make adjustment in the interface.
5. You get all the connections related to every bus by repeating the steps 2 to 4. Finally you get
the whole system diagram as shown below.

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Appendix B1
This test is done by repetitively increasing the load at the buses 5 and 6 and running the power
flow. Each time, make the increase in relatively small increments, say 20% (multiply by 1.2) for
the real power (and 20% for the reactive power so that tan=Q/P remains constant). Continue
doing this until the power flow program diverges. For each converged solution, record the voltage
magnitude at bus 5 and the total real power at buses 5 and 6. When you get a case that diverges,
then return to the last converged case and increase by 10%.

If it converges, increase by 5%

If it diverges, go back to last case that converged and increase by 5%.

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Appendix B2
How to draw PV curve in PSS/E:
(The files needed for this part will be provided by the instructor.)
When you identify the maximum loading values at bus 5 and bus 6, please use the following
steps:
1. In PSS/E, Click Power FlowSolutionPV analysisThis will open a PV Analysis
dialog box.
2. In the section of Transfer dispatch methods, for the option of For study (source)
system, select Subsystem machines (MW); for the option of For opposing (sink)
system, select Subsystem load.
3. For the option of Initial transfer increment (MW) (which is in the middle-right part of the
PV Analysis dialog box), select 30.00.
4. In the section of Input data files, click Create DFAX This will open a Building
Distribution Factor Data File dialog box. In the section of Input files, for the option of
Subsystem description data, click the right box with 3 dots on it to select the bus5.sub
file and then click Open. For the option of Monitored element data, click the right box
with 3 dots on it to select the EE303.mon file and then click Open. For the option of
Contingency description data, click the right box with 3 dots on it to select the
EE303.con file and then click Open. For the option of Distribution factor data output
file, click the right box with 3 dots on it to select the bus5.dfx file and then click Open.
After finishing all selections above, click OK button at the bottom of Building
Distribution Factor Data File dialog box.
5. Now back to PV Analysis dialog box, for the option of Output file (results) (which is at
the bottom of PV Analysis dialog box), click the right box with 3 dots on it to select the
bus5.pv file and then click Open.
6. Click Go. Then the PV Results dialog box will be opened.
7. About the PV Results dialog box, in the section of Type of results, choose Bus
voltages. In the section of Contingencies, choose BASE CASE 420.00 BASE CASE
0 such that this option becomes dark blue.
8. In the section of Buses, you can choose bus 5 and then the PV Curve about bus 5 will be
shown at the bottom of the PV Results dialog box. From this PV Curve, you can find the
maximum loading value at bus 5.
9. You can obtain the PV Curve about bus 6 by following step1 to step7.
NOTE(important):
(1) In step4, for the option of Subsystem description data, click the right box with 3 dots
on it to select the bus6.sub file and then click Open. For the option of
Distribution factor data output file, click the right box with 3 dots on it to select the
bus6.dfx file and then click Open.
(2) In step5, for the option of Output file (results), click the right box with 3 dots on it to
select the bus6.pv file and then click Open.

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